Author Ray Carpenter shares his life’s story in ‘Scribbles,’ a tale that takes readers on a journey from Graham County, around the world, and back again. Based on the author’s journal entries, Carpenter weaves the memorable, and at times humorous, tale of his life.

After honorably serving in the U.S. Navy, Ray Carpenter graduated from Western Carolina University with degrees in science, English, and philosophy, and received certificates in CPCU designation and Insurance and Risk Management from Georgia State. Now retired from the Hartford Insurance Company, Ray has one son, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. Ray is currently working on his second book while residing in his mountain cabin near Robbinsville, North Carolina.

It is December of 1649 and England’s uncrowned king, Oliver Cromwell, leads his brutal army across Ireland to eliminate a violent rebellion. Fifteen-year-old Elvy Burke, the daughter of a great warrior, wants only one thing—to live her destiny as a leader and defender of her country. While waiting anxiously in her village, Elvy receives word that Cromwell and his cavalry are on the way. As she hears the thunderous hooves approaching, Elvy has already decided she will not give up easily.

When Cromwell cruelly beheads a village boy, Elvy vows to avenge the killing by destroying Cromwell. After fleeing from the general’s soldiers, Elvy aligns with a Scottish outlaw whose schemes send them headlong into a tumultuous journey across the sea to the West Indies, where she becomes an indentured servant for the fledgling sugar plantation Sharavogue. Knowing she will surely be killed if she attempts to escape, Elvy learns to survive in her new life—and soon discovers the depth of her own strengths and emotions.

Sharavogue is the compelling historical tale of one girl’s incredible journey through the lawless lands of the West Indies as she fights her way back to Ireland to confront her sworn enemy and claim her destiny.

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Born in Miami, Florida, Nancy Blanton is a corporate communications professional and former journalist. She wrote and illustrated a children’s book, The Curios Adventure of Roodle Jones, produced two corporate history books and two interactive timelines. Sharavogue is her first novel. Her blog, My Lady’s Closet, covers history, writing, and related experiences.

Blanton has accomplished what I think all writers of good historical fiction should. She has accurately portrayed a time in history with a real flare, serendipitously teaching her readers as she keeps them utterly captivated with her characters. Her descriptions of places and events is so vivid that it is easy to imagine being on the sugar plantation or sailing across the ocean.

– LAS Reviewer

Blanton ranks right up there with Cornwell, Scarrow, and Rutherfurd in making history enjoyable and dare I say even exciting! Looking forward to further books from her.

– Amazon Reader Review

This book kept me up nights. Every time I thought I could put it down something happened that made me read on. A very enjoyable first novel.

After inexplicably being placed in the wrong bassinet at the city hospital where I was born, I grew up with a nagging feeling of somehow not belonging, and a father who always suspected I was not his. I lived another’s life and he mine, our paths amazingly crossing throughout the years, until 57 years later I discovered the truth. This is the story of my life in someone else’s world, my quest for answers, and how I’ve come to terms with the hand which fate has dealt me.

– Fred George, Author

This is a story about two boys who, at birth, were inexplicably switched, a switch that would dramatically change the author’s life in every aspect—religion, ethnicity, economics, and culture. Time and time again, the two boys’ paths cross with one another’s before ultimately discovering, decades later, that they aren’t who they spent their whole lives believing they were. At 57, Fred George sees his birth family for the first time, recognizing in them his own mannerisms and traits. George’s retelling of his switch at birth is not so much an account of the switch itself, but rather the story of his life from birth to present with the George family. The story is interesting and insightful, complete with family photos that provide readers with an inside view of the culture and of the times of George’s life.

A compelling biography, interlaced with humor, of a man switched at birth who does not learn his true identity until 57 years after the midwife placed him in the wrong bassinet. Switched At Birth is an easy read that is hard to forget. – Emory Daniels, Book Review Editor

This book is a diamond in the rough… the stories are often comical, sometimes heartbreaking, and always enjoyable.
-Shaley Melchoir, For Immediate Release Reviews

Full of doubts, ironic coincidences, experiences, growth, the feeling of not belonging and being different, but most importantly [the author]shows us the essence of life itself…The idea of this book is fantastic and so is the approach…The author has impressive insights and thoughts as well as a definite writing voice…I highly recommend [it].
– Elisa Hidalgo

It is unimaginable to think that the life you have lived was not the one you were meant to have. Despite this tragic event, the author has a very uplifting spirit and positive outlook on life. This book is a great read for anyone.
– Lonna H., Amazon Consumer Reviews

Captivating memoir…definitely one of the best I have ever read…I recommend anyone to read this book. I absolutely loved it.
– J. Yoon, Amazon Consumer Reviews

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AVAILABLE AT THE FOLLOWING eBOOK RETAILERS:(Also Available in Print from Select Retailers!)

“I picked this story out of a line-up of potential stories for review, and honestly, what drew me to it is the fact that my name is also Laura. That, and I was intrigued to learn about the life of another Laura in what is, essentially, a whole other world (specifically the town of Atwood, Kansas, U.S.A).

I was fascinated by Laura’s story from start to finish. Not only had her early life been quite different to mine, but it started nearly one hundred years ago. Another world, another time. Despite some similarities I found between myself and Laura Schmid (she was born with dark eyes and hair, like me; her father named her Laura, like mine had; she never liked her name, and neither have I, though she disliked it due to the fact no one had heard it before, and I dislike it due to how common it is these days!), her upbringing couldn’t have been more different.

She was born, lived and worked on her parents farm along with her fourteen other brothers and sisters, being the youngest girl with only three brothers below her in age (I grew up with five other siblings, and I thought that was tough!). They all attended school when they reached the right age, but were never permitted to go on to high school, as their father wouldn’t allow it. Of course, Laura, at eighteen, did eventually attend high school, and then college, although she was ‘twelve hours’ from graduating when she decided instead to marry. Quite a different time indeed.

Throughout the story (which reminded me of the television show, Little House on the Prairie, that I used to watch every Sunday, that included another young girl named Laura), Laura recounts not only her childhood, but that and the lives of her immigrant parents and her numerous brothers and sisters, even putting in accounts from her brothers Joe and Paul on their experiences of life on the farm and in World War II. Laura and her family experienced a lot when it came to life and death, loyalty and sacrifice, but in reading you get the sense that camaraderie was a way of life in those days; times were tough so you had to look out for each other. Illness was rife and much of it still uncured and untreatable, so when a family member or close friend was taken it certainly had a knock on effect on every one who knew them.

Laura’s story is beautifully and intriguingly written. It’s very factual but you also get a feel of who Laura is as a person; strong, smart and incredibly devoted to her family, close and distant. Not only do you come to understand what life was like for a large family in the early twentieth century Mid-West of North America, you also get to know what the world was like in general, particularly with the war and the Great Depression hitting the U.S.

I’m used to picking up biographies on celebrities or those who have led eventful lives in one way or another, and normally I would think that the majority of people in the world don’t have any particular reason to bother writing an autobiography (I may only be twenty-four, but so far I know my life would not make for an interesting read!). Indeed nothing major in the way of events ever really happened to Laura, but reading and understanding her life under different circumstances and in a different time is almost like a reading a history book, teaching lessons in humility, loyalty and sacrifice, and learning that although life may not seem eventful whilst you’re living it, when you’re eighty-something and looking back over the years, your achievements and experiences can mean a heck of a lot more than they did way back when.

Maybe instead of picking up another life story of some reality T.V star who is barely out of school, I will think twice and search the bookshops for something a little more understated and unknown. Perhaps I’ll come across another life like Laura’s, and learn a few more things from a stranger’s life on the other side of the world, and perhaps learn to appreciate mine even more.”

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